SODELPA to vet provisional candidates before their names are released

SODELPA will announce 27 provisional candidates in the second week of June. Party general secretary, Lenaitasi Duru, said it was important to vet each of their provisional candidates before names were announced.

“We will be announcing the names of the second batch of provisional candidates in the next management board meeting,” Mr Duru said.

“We have announced the first batch of provisional candidates; there were 28 of them.

“We will have 55 provisional candidates as the Parliament will have four additional seats after the 2022 General Election.”

The increase of seats from 51 to 55 is in accordance with Section 54 of the Constitution.

Mr Duru said their provisional candidates were on the ground campaigning.

“For each provisional candidate, we have a primary vetting and they provide everything that is on checklists. One of the important things on the checklist is Police clearance and if anyone has been convicted, he or she is rejected,” he said.

“We ensure that all provisional candidates we choose are thoroughly vetted to avoid unwanted attention, for example if they were convicted.

“The provisional candidates have been campaigning since their names were announced.”